my ISO jobMy ISO job

What delegates and experts need to know

2019 edition

Respect the ISO

Code of Conduct

Participate in decision-

making

Use the ISOTC platform

Meet deadlines

Prepare for meetings 29

7

37

My ISO jobWhat delegates and experts need to know

2 Welcome to ISO5 The people there to help you…

PART 1 Introducing ISO7 Background10 ISO governance structure13 ISO committees – the basics21 International Standards and other ISO deliverables23 Rules for developing standards – the basics

PART 2 What is expected of you29 Respect the ISO Code of Conduct30 Participate in decision making31 Use the ISOTC platform31 Meet deadlines32 Prepare for meetings33 Respect copyright and trademarks33 Disclose any patents34 Be clear about data protection34 How to communicate on committee work34 Coordinate on media communications35 Stay informed

PART 3 Tools and resources37 Resource area for standards developers37 Full list of links used in this document41 Acronyms

My ISO job | 2019 edition – 1

Welcome ISOto

Congratulations on your appointment

as a delegate of an ISO committee or an expert in a working group.

The purpose of this document is to help you participate effectively in ISO’s tech-nical work.Part 1 provides general background information about ISO and the standards development process. Part 2 explains what is expected of you as a participant in ISO. Part 3 gives a list of the tools and resources available to you.This document presents an over-view and is not exhaustive. Links to additional information are provided throughout. If you are reading a paper version, the full links are given in Part 3. You can also visit www.iso.org or ISO Connect. A full list of the acro-nyms used are defined at the end of the document.

The purpose

of this document is

to help you participate

effectively in ISO’s

technical work.

The people there to help you…ISO has detailed processes and it is normal to feel a little over-whelmed at first. Your national standards body is available to provide you with any information. Committee leaders (Chairs and Managers) are also available to answer your questions, as are the ISO Central Secretariat Technical Programme Managers (TPM) assigned to each committee. A TPM provides committees with advice on ISO policies, procedures and work programme matters. The name and contact information of the committee leaders and TPM are available on the “ About ” section of each committee page on iso.org.

This document is to assist delegates and experts in ISO’s technical work. The following remain the source documents (www.iso.org/directives) :• ISO Statutes• ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1• Consolidated ISO Supplement to the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1• ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2• ISO/IEC JTC 1 Supplement

The most important information for your ISO work

is covered in Part 2.

So if you are familiar with ISO, we suggest you skip

the background in Part 1 and go to Part 2 to get right

to the essentials.

My ISO job | 2019 edition – 5

ISOA SNAPSHOTWhat ISO doesDevelops International Standards and other deliverables for products, services, processes, materials and systems, and for conformity assessment, managerial and organizational practice.

What ISO does not doCarry out certification of conformity to its standards, including ISO 9001 or ISO 14001.

ISO – the organizationConsists of a network of the most representative national standards bodies from all regions of the world, working in partnership with international organizations such as the United Nations, its specialized agencies and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

ISO’s originsFounded in 1946 by delegates from 25 countries, ISO began operating on 23 February 1947.

PART 1Introducing ISO

What makes ISO so unique

The need for truly global standards has expanded as new

markets, new actors and new powerful economies emerge.

ISO provides unique mechanisms to establish international

consensus that results in globally and market-relevant standards.

With a collection of thousands of International Standards

and other deliverables, developed and promoted by stakeholders in a network of

national standards bodies from all regions and hundreds of international organizations,

ISO is the leading producer of International Standards.

This Part provides basic information about

how it all happens.

Background

ISO membersISO is a network of national standards bodies which make up the ISO mem-bership. These bodies represent ISO in their countries. There are three member categories which enjoy different levels of participation :

Full members (or member bodies) influence ISO standards development and strategy by participating and vot-ing in ISO technical and policy meet-ings. Full members can sell and adopt ISO International Standards nationally.

Correspondent members observe the development of ISO standards and strategy, including by attending ISO technical and policy meetings as observers. Correspondent members can sell and adopt ISO International Standards nationally.

Subscriber members keep up to date with ISO’s work but cannot participate in it – nor can they be observers in committees. They do not sell or adopt ISO International Standards nationally.

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ISO and tradeThe World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), which includes the Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards (in Annex 3), recognizes the important contribution of international standards and conformity assessment systems to improve the efficiency of production and facilitate international trade.ISO implements the principles adopted by the TBT committee that should be observed by international standard-izing bodies : transparency, openness, impartiality and consensus, effective-ness and relevance, coherence, and the development dimension. ISO’s global relevance policy details principles consistent with the WTO principles along with implementa-tion guidelines to ensure that ISO standards are relevant to countries all around the world.

ISO and developing countries

Increasing the participation of ISO’s developing country members and strengthening their standardization infrastructures is an ISO priority. Consult iso.org for more information about ISO’s efforts related to develop-ing countries. The site also contains general information about training and technical assistance, which may include funding for dele gates and

8 – My ISO job | 2019 edition

experts from developing countries to attend meetings. See ISO Con-nect for details about ISO’s spon-sorship programme to support participation in technical work or contact tmb@iso.org.

Worldwide collaboration

ISO collaborates with its two sector-based international partners, the IEC (International Electrotechni-cal Commission) and ITU (Inter-national Telecommunication Union). ISO also collaborates with the United Nations and its special-ized agencies and commissions, particularly those involved in the harmonization of regulations and public policies.ISO’s technical committees have liaisons with hundreds of interna-tional organizations. Many of ISO’s members also belong to regional standards organizations. This makes it easier for ISO to coordi-nate with regional standardization activities throughout the world.

The ISO Council has recognized the following seven regional stand-ards organizations :• ACCSQ – ASEAN Consultative

Committee for Standards and Quality

• AIDMO – Arab Industrial Development and Mining Organization

• ARSO – African Regional Organi-zation for Standardization

• CEN – European Committee for Standardization

• COPANT – Pan American Stand-ards Commission

• EASC – Euro-Asian Council for Standardization, Metrology and Certification

• PASC – Pacific Area Standards Congress

ISO signed an agreement on tech-nical cooperation with the CEN (“ Vienna Agreement ”). Informa-tion about the Vienna Agreement, including the implementation guid-ance is available at www.iso.org/va.

My ISO job | 2019 edition – 9

ISO governance structure

The Principal OfficersThe strategic management of ISO is in the hands of its members and ISO’s Principal Officers : President, President-elect, Vice-President (policy), Vice-President (techni-cal management), Vice-Presi-dent (finance), Treasurer and Secretary-General.

The General AssemblyThe General Assembly is similar to a company’s shareholder meetings and is attended by ISO’s Principal Officers and delegates nominated by the mem-ber bodies. Correspondent members and subscriber members may attend as observers. The General Assembly meets every September and is usually hosted by an ISO member body.

General Assembly

Technical Committees

Council

Technical Management BoardPolicy Development

Committees

Council Standing Committees

President’s Committee

The Secretary-General is a member of the President’s Committee, reports to the President and to Council and receives advice from the policy and advisory groups (who also advise Council). The Central Secretariat is responsible for supporting the governance and policy and advisory structure and the operations of ISO.

Reporting/responsibility

Advisory

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The ISO CouncilThe ISO Council generally meets three times per year and governs the opera-tions of ISO just as a board of directors governs the operations of a company. It is chaired by the ISO President and comprises 20 ISO members and the Chairs of ISO’s Policy Development Committees. The Council appoints the Treasurer, the members of the Techni-cal Management Board and the Chairs of ISO’s Policy Development Commit-tees : DEVCO (Committee on devel-oping country matters), COPOLCO (Committee on consumer policy) and CASCO (Committee on conformity assessment) – who all report to it.

The President’s Committee

The President’s Committee is comprised of the Principal Officers. It advises Council on the implementation of its decisions. It also ensures effective com-munication and coordination between the ISO Council, the Technical Manage-ment Board and the four Council Stand-ing Committees : the Strategy and Policy Committee (CSC/SP), the Committee on Finance (CSC/FIN), nominations for gov-ernance positions (CSC/NOM) and over-sight of the Organization’s governance practices (CSC/OVE). The President’s Committee meets either physically or virtually as often as needed throughout the year – an average of about four or five times per year.

The President’s

Committee

advises Council

on the implementation

of its decisions.

My ISO job | 2019 edition – 11

The Technical Management Board (TMB)

The TMB reports to the ISO Council and is responsible for the overall manage-ment of the technical work. The TMB is comprised of a Chair and 15 member bodies and it decides on the establishment of technical committees and appoints their secretariats and Chairs. It also monitors the progress of the technical work and is responsible for the ISO/IEC Directives, which are the rules for the development of International Standards and other ISO delivera-bles. It has three physical meetings per year (February, June and September) and works by correspondence as needed between meetings.

The Secretary-General

ISO’s day-to-day operations are managed by the Secretary-General, who is appointed for five-year terms and heads the ISO Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, as well as its Singapore office.

ISO Strategic Plans

ISO is guided by its five-year Strategic Plans which are approved by the ISO General Assembly. The implementation of ISO’s Strategic Plans is over-seen by the ISO Council.

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ISO committees – the basics

StructureThe development of International Standards and other ISO deliverables is carried out by ISO technical commit-tees and their subcommittees, or by project committees.Technical and project committees are established by the Technical Management Board to develop Interna-tional Standards or other ISO deliverables within their approved scopes.A technical committee may set up one or more subcom-mittees. The scope of a subcommittee must be within the scope of the parent technical committee.Technical committees, project committees and subcom-mittees can establish working groups to focus on spe-cific tasks such as developing the first draft of a standard or deliverable.Advisory groups, study groups, ad hoc groups and editing committees can also be set up to support the activity, as needed. Unlike technical committees and subcommittees, the above groups are disbanded after the fulfilment of their given task.Technical committees must develop strategic business plans, which also address the activities of any subcom-mittees. The purpose of the strategic business plan is to analyse market needs and demonstrate how they will be addressed by the work of the technical committee.Standards can also be developed in project commit-tees, which operate in the same way as technical committees. The only difference is that they are only mandated to develop one standard, after which the project committee is disbanded or transformed into a technical committee if there is a need for further standardization within its scope. By definition, a pro-ject committee cannot have subcommittees unless it is transformed into a technical committee.

My ISO job | 2019 edition – 13

Leadership

The committee secretariat and ManagerEach ISO technical committee, project committee or subcommittee is admin-istratively supported by an ISO member body (the “ secretariat ”). The member body which is appointed by the Technical Management Board to hold the secretariat of a committee is also by default a participating member (P-member) in the committee.The member body which holds the secretariat of a committee appoints a Manager, the person responsible for all administrative aspects of the com-mittee. The Manager is however required to be neutral and to dissociate him/herself from his/her national positions. S/he works closely with the committee Chair in managing the work of the committee.

The committee Chair

Nominations for Chairs are submitted by the member body holding the sec-retariat of a committee. The Technical Management Board appoints Chairs of technical committees and project com-mittees. Parent technical committees appoint the Chairs of their subcommit-tees. Chairs can be nominated for an initial maximum period of six years. Extensions are allowed, up to a cumu-lative maximum of nine years.The role of the Chair is to help the com-mittee reach an agreement that will be internationally accepted. This requires him or her to steer the committee towards consensus and recognize when it has been reached. The Chair must remain neutral and cannot therefore continue to be a national representa-tive in the committee s/he is chairing.

Working group Convenors

Working group Convenors are appointed by the technical committee, project committee or subcommittee for up to three-year terms end-ing at the next plenary session of the parent committee following the term. Such appoint-ments must be confirmed by the national body of the country where the Convenor is from or by the liaison organization who nominated him/her). The Convenor may be reappointed for additional terms of up to three years. There is no limit to the number of terms.The role of the Convenor is to lead the work of the experts in the working group. S/he must also apply the principles of consensus. S/he can also be supported by a secretariat, as needed.

The role

of the Convenor

is to lead the work

of the experts

in the working

group.Note : You can find more information on the different roles and responsibilities of the committee leadership in the ISO brochure Project Management Methodology Roles, responsibilities and capability requirements.

My ISO job | 2019 edition – 15

Committee members

Technical committees, subcommittees and project committees

Full members All ISO member bodies (also referred to as “ full members ”) are eligible for membership in any ISO technical committee, project committee or subcommittee as either participating members (P-members) or observers (O-members).

P-members are required to play an active role in the work of a committee, as well as vote on all official committee ballots. They are also expected to base their positions on the con-sensus of national stakeholders, preferably through national mirror committees.

O-members follow the development of a standard, and possibly contribute to the work, without committing themselves to active participation.

Correspondent members may register as observers of committees. But unlike O-memberships, which are reserved for ISO member bodies, correspondent members that register as observers do not have the right to submit comments. 1)

Technical committees, subcommittees and project committees may establish liaisons. Category A liaisons allow international and broadly based regional organizations to actively participate in the work of a committee. However, they do not have the right to vote in formal committee ballots.

Subscriber members cannot participate in the technical work of ISO except under the Council pilot project. 1)

1) NOTE : Following Council Resolution 03/2013, correspondent and subscriber members were allowed to participate in a maximum of five committees for a two-year trial period (2014-2015). The pilot project has been extended for a further four years with the current rights but with increased training and support to members participating in this programme (Council Resolution 22/2015).

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Working groupsMembership to working groups is lim-ited to the experts that are nominated by the members that have agreed to actively participate in the project concerned (P-members and category A liaisons). There is also a special cat-egory of liaison (category C) reserved for working groups.Whereas P-members of technical com-mittees, subcommittees or project committees are required to represent

their national positions, working group experts do not formally rep-resent the members who nominate them. They are selected based on their individual know-how and experience in a given subject and therefore act in a personal capacity. However, they should understand the positions of the member that appointed them and keep them informed of progress in the technical work.

My ISO job | 2019 edition – 17

Meetings

Committees use electronic means – e.g. e-mail or Web conferencing – to carry out their work whenever pos-sible. Meetings are convened only when necessary to discuss matters of substance which cannot be settled by other means.The official languages of ISO being English, French and Russian, the work of a committee by correspondence could be in any of these languages,

however, meetings are conducted in English by default. Delegates and experts without solid English skills will find it challenging to effectively participate in committee work.There are generally two types of meet-ings – plenary meetings of technical committees, subcommittees and pro-ject committees, and working group meetings. The rules for each differ slightly, as explained next.

Capacity building for ISO membersHelping ISO’s members strengthen their standardization infrastruc-tures and enhance their par-ticipation in the international standardization system by build-ing their capacity is an ISO priority. Twinning arrangements are partner-ships between two ISO members with the aim of sharing knowledge

and experience to build the capac-ity of the less experienced partner. A twinning arrangement can be estab-lished at the P-member, Convenor, Secretariat and Chair levels. For more information about twinning, see the Guidance on Twinning and the brochure Twinning is winning or contact tmb@iso.org.

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Committee plenary meetingsTechnical committee, subcommittee and project committee plenary meet-ings are planned well in advance, taking into account the advantage of grouping committee meetings dealing with related subjects, improving com-munication and limiting the burden of attendance at meetings by dele-gates. The date and place of a meeting is subject to agreement between the Chair, the Manager, the ISO Central Secretariat and the national stand-ards body acting as host. Decisions at meetings are taken by way of resolu-tions and are posted in the commit-tee’s electronic folder within 48 hours after the meeting.The ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 require that the meeting notice, draft agenda and all basic documents be made available by the committee secretariat at least four months before the date of a technical committee, subcommittee or project committee meeting. A final agenda and all other documents, espe-cially those related to action items, must be available at least six weeks in advance of the meeting.

P-members are usually represented by delegations from their national mir-ror committees. Delegates attending a technical committee, subcommit-tee or project committee meeting must be accredited by their member bodies, and must be registered via Meetings. A head of delegation is the official spokesperson for a delegation. S/he ensures that members of the delegation represent their country’s position. A delegate to a committee meeting may be the same individual who has been nominated by an ISO member body to be an expert in a working group.Representatives of category A liaisons may attend and participate in plenary meetings. However, liaison representa-tives cannot vote on committee matters.

Working group meetingsWorking group meetings are attended by the experts appointed by P-mem-bers and liaison organizations. Con-venors must notify the experts of a meeting at least six weeks in advance of the meeting.

All final documents must be available at least six weeks in advance

of the meeting.

My ISO job | 2019 edition – 19

*National stakeholders

How does it all fit together ? Below is a diagram of how the various elements of the ISO committee structure fit together.

ISO/CS

TC

SC

WG

Chair

Chair

Convenor

ManagerP-membersO-members

Liaisons

P-membersO-members

Liaisons

Experts

Liaison

P-member

O-m

embe

rP-

mem

ber

Experts

International organizations

Experts

Experts

ISO member

ISO member

SH*

SH*

SH*

SH*

SH*

SH* ONE COUNTRY = ONE VOTE

Manager

20 – My ISO job | 2019 edition

International Standards and other ISO deliverablesWhile ISO is best known for its International Stand-ards, it has other deliverables. Below are the five types of deliverables developed by ISO committees. More information about these deliverables is avail-able on iso.org or in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1.

International Standards (IS)

An International Standard provides rules, guide-lines or characteristics for activities or for their results, aimed at achieving the optimum degree of order in a given context. It can take many forms. Apart from product standards, other examples include : test methods, codes of practice, guideline standards and management systems standards.

Technical Specifications (TS)

A Technical Specification addresses work still under technical development, or where it is believed that there will be a future, but not immediate, possibility of agreement on an International Standard. A Tech-nical Specification is published for immediate use, but it also provides a means to obtain feedback. The aim is that it will eventually be transformed and republished as an International Standard.

Technical Reports (TR)

A Technical Report contains information of a differ-ent kind from that of the previous two publications. It may include data obtained from a survey, for exam-ple, or from an informative report, or information on the perceived “ state of the art ”.

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Publicly Available Specifications (PAS)

A Publicly Available Specification is published to respond to an urgent market need, representing either the consensus of the experts within a working group, or a consensus in an organization external to ISO. As with Technical Specifications, Publicly Available Specifications are published for immediate use and also serve as a means to obtain feedback for an eventual transforma-tion into an International Standard. Publicly Available Specifications have a maximum life of six years, after which they can be transformed into an International Standard or withdrawn.

International Workshop Agreements (IWA)

An International Workshop Agreement is a document developed outside the normal ISO committee system to enable market players to negotiate in an “ open workshop ” environment. International Workshop Agreements are typically administratively supported by a member body. The published agreement includes an indication of the participating organizations involved in its development. An International Workshop Agreement has a maximum lifespan of six years, after which it can be either transformed into another ISO deliverable or is automatically withdrawn.

ISO deliverables created by committees

ISO International Standards

ISO/PAS Publicly

Available Specifications

ISO/TS Technical Specifications

ISO/TR Technical Reports

IWA International

Workshop Agreements

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For more details,

see also iso.org.

Rules for developing standards – the basics

Following the Directives

The Directives are the core procedures for standards development work in both ISO and the IEC. They contain the rules which guide the progres-sion of ISO deliverables, including the development of a new Interna-tional Standard (or other ISO deliverable) or the revision or amendment of an existing ISO standard.Part 1 of the Directives is particularly important as it indicates the required standards development procedures to be followed. ISO also has unique procedures which are not applicable to the IEC. These are contained in the Consolidated ISO Supplement, which consolidates the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 and the ISO specific rules.Part 2 of the Directives contains rules for the structure and drafting of standards. It also covers the way in which terms are used and the accepted use of units, tolerances, symbols and probability statements. Working group Convenors have the primary responsibility for follow-ing Part 2.

Stages for developing ISO deliverables

The full details of all of the stages of development for ISO deliverables are summarized here, followed by a brief explanation. For more detail, see also iso.org. For tips on writing standards, see How to write standards.For an overview of the elements of conformity assessment that stand-ards writers should know, see Conformity assessment for standards writers – Do’s and don’ts. An explanation of the link between conform-ity assessment and various ISO deliverables is available on iso.org.

My ISO job | 2019 edition – 23

Proposal stage (10)This first step is to confirm that a new International Standard in the subject area is really needed (see ISO’s global relevance policy). A New Work Item Proposal (NP) is submitted to the committee for vote using Form 4. The electronic ballot-ing portal should be used for the vote. The person being nominated as pro-ject leader is named on the Form.If there are possible complications around copyright, patents or con-formity assessment, they should be raised at this early stage.This stage can be skipped for revi-sions and amendments to ISO stand-ards that are already published.

Preparatory stage (20)Usually, a working group is set up by the parent committee to prepare the Working Draft (WD). The working group is made up of experts and a Convenor (who is usually the project leader). During this stage, experts continue to look out for issues around copyright, patents and con-formity assessment.Successive WDs can be circulated until the experts are satisfied that they have developed the best solu-tion they can. The draft is then forwarded to the working group’s parent committee that will decide which stage to go to next (Committee stage or Enquiry stage).The ISO/TC (also referred to as eCommittees) platform can be used for sharing documents at this and other stages of a standard’s development.

Proposal stage (10)

Preparatory stage (20)

Committee stage (30)

Enquiry stage (40)

Approval stage (50)

Publication stage (60)

obligatory optional

Stages for developing ISO standards

24 – My ISO job | 2019 edition

Committee stage (30)This stage is optional. For guidance on when it can be skipped, see Annex SS of the Consolidated ISO Sup-plement to the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1.During this stage, the draft from the working group is shared with the members of the parent committee.If the committee uses this stage, the Committee Draft (CD) is circulated to the members of the committee who then comment and/or vote using the electronic balloting portal. Suc-cessive CDs can be circulated until consensus is reached on the techni-cal content.

Enquiry stage (40)The Draft International Standard (DIS) is submitted to the ISO Central Secretariat (ISO/CS) by the Committee Manager. It is then circulated to all ISO members who get 12 weeks to vote and comment on it. The DIS is approved if two-thirds of the P-members of the committee are in favour and not more than one-quarter of the total number of votes cast are negative.If the DIS is approved, the project goes straight to publication. However, the committee leadership can decide to include the approval (FDIS) stage if needed. (The Submission Interface should be used when sending the draft to ISO/CS.)See the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, Subclauses 2.6.3 and 2.6.4 for more information.

My ISO job | 2019 edition – 25

Approval stage (50)

This stage will be automatically skipped if the DIS has been approved.However, if the draft has been signifi-cantly revised following comments at the DIS stage or has technical changes (even if the DIS has been approved), committees must carry out this stage (FDIS is no longer optional). (See the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, Sub-clause 2.6.4 for more information.)If this stage is used, the Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) is sub-mitted to the ISO Central Secretariat (ISO/CS) by the committee Secretary. The FDIS is then circulated to all ISO members for a two-month vote to decide whether the standard is suit-able for publication. (The Submission Interface should be used when send-ing the draft to ISO/CS.)The standard is approved if two-thirds of the P-members of the committee are in favour and not more than one-quarter of the total number of votes cast are negative. (See the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, Subclause 2.7 for more information.)

Publication stage (60)

At this stage, the Manager submits the final document for publication through the Submission Interface. After the FDIS, only editorial correc-tions are made to the final text. It is published by the ISO Central Secre-tariat as an International Standard.Committee Managers and project leaders get a two-week sign-off period before the standard is published.

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Project managementWhen embarking on a new project, committees must decide within which time frame – referred to as “ tracks ” – the project will be developed. There are four possible standards development tracks (SDT) :

SDT 18• 8 months to produce the DIS• 18 months to publication

SDT 24• 12 months to produce the DIS• 24 months to publication

SDT 36• 24 months to produce the DIS• 36 months to publication

SDT 48• 36 months to produce the DIS• 48 months to publication

Standards and other ISO deliverables are intended to meet a market need. Also, the longer a project takes to develop, the more resources are required. Com-mittees are therefore under pressure to respect the time frames of the tracks they select. Limited extensions are granted by exception only.

What happens after publication ?

It is not enough to simply publish a standard or other deliverable – we have to make sure they remain current and relevant. ISO has a process through which it ensures that ISO deliverables remain up to date. This is referred to as the “ systematic review ” process, in which committee members have an important role to play. You will find more information about the systematic review in Subclause 2.9 of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1.

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Respect the ISO Code of Conduct

Participate in decision making

Use the ISOTC platform

Meet deadlines

Prepare for meetings

PART 2What is expected of you

Participate ! Participate ! Participate !

By accepting an appointment

as a committee member or expert, you are committing

to actively participate in the committee

or working group to which you are appointed.

You also agree to fulfil a number

of obligations associated with participation.

This Part summarizes what active participation means

at ISO. It also explains key obligations you

must meet.

Respect the ISO Code of ConductISO is an international, multi-stakeholder, multi-sector environ-ment. The ISO Code of Conduct contains seven principles (and expla-nations) that are the foundation for participation in the ISO system :• Respect others• Behave ethically• Escalate and resolve disputes• Work for the net benefit

of the international community• Uphold consensus and governance• Agree to a clear purpose and scope• Participate actively and manage

effective representation

All participants who choose to par-ticipate in ISO work must adhere to the above principles.

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Participate in decision makingCommittees work by consensus (see Sub-clause 2.5.6 of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 for details about how consensus works) and by vote.Voting decisions are taken within ISO on the basis of votes cast by ISO member bod-ies, using the principle of “ one country, one vote ”. The ISO Committee Internal Balloting (CIB) system is used for votes by correspondence. Those eligible to vote, and the approval criteria, vary depending on the nature of the vote. The rules are explained in more detail in Part 1 of the ISO/IEC Directives.Voting is a crucial part of a P-member’s obligations. Those who fail to vote on over 20 % of the questions formally submitted for voting on the CIB (New Work Item Pro-posals – NP, Committee Drafts – CD) over one calendar year may be downgraded to O-membership. Similarly, a P-member who fails to vote on an enquiry draft (DIS) or final draft (FDIS) or a systematic review (SR) will be downgraded to O-member. See Subclause 1.7.4 of the ISO/IEC Direc-tives, Part 1 for more details.The above rules are strictly monitored and applied. This is because the quality of ISO standards and other deliverables is directly related to the quality of the involvement of those engaged in its work.Decisions in working groups are always taken by consensus, i.e. there are no votes.

Voting is

a crucial part

of a P-member’s

obligations.

30 – My ISO job | 2019 edition

Use the ISOTC platform (also known as eCommittees)Because there is a lot of document exchange in developing standards and other ISO deliverables, it is important that all participants use the same tools to central-ize efforts and maximize efficiency. The use of eCommittees is mandatory for working groups.

Meet deadlines

As mentioned above, committee Chairs and Managers are under pressure to stick to the timelines for the track (see page 27) selected for a particular project. This means that projects have to be carefully managed to ensure that all of the steps required at each stage of development (see pages 24-26) can be taken within the established deadlines.You can play your part in making sure the project is delivered on time by consist-ently meeting the deadlines that you can see in the ISO Projects.

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Prepare for meetingsPreparing for a meeting means reading the documents. But in the ISO system, another critical part of meeting prepa-ration is to obtain the input of other concerned parties. Delegates at plenary meetings must ensure that they have consulted their national stakeholders in forming their positions. The Technical Management Board has prepared guidance docu-ments for national standards bodies and liaison organizations on stake-holder engagement, based on which an e-learning course was developed. Links to additional guidance and sup-port are also available on iso.org.

Preparing

for a meeting

means reading

the documents.

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Respect copyright and trademarksThere is copyright in the content sub-mitted to the standards development process. Many sources may be used for the drafting of a particular standard, including national standards, stand-ards from other standardizing bodies, research papers, etc. Such content is likely to be copyright-protected. It is essential that the copyright holders give their agreement at an early stage of the standards development process to the content being shared in the pro-cess and possibly being reproduced in whole or in part in the ISO standard or other deliverable. It is the responsibil-ity of those submitting such content to ensure that the agreement of the copyright holder has been obtained. More information about this is avail-able on ISO Connect.ISO standards, drafts and other ISO publications are all copyright-protected. The copyright is owned by ISO. Therefore ISO publications may not be copied without ISO’s express permission. However, the sharing of ISO drafts is permitted to a limited extent. Please consult your Technical Programme Manager for any ques-tions about copyright or contact copyright@iso.org.

For the use of the trademark-protected ISO logo and the short name “ ISO ”, see iso.org or contact the ISO Central Secretariat (logo@iso.org). The use of trademarks of third parties or other proprietary names in ISO publications should be avoided. They may only be used in exceptional situations (see ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, Clause 31).

Disclose any patents

The Common Patent Policy for ITU-T/ITU-R/ISO/IEC (see Annex I of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1) allows the inclusion of standard essential patents (SEP) in standards. To ensure that such an ISO deliverable can be used by standard users, it is essen-tial that the owners of SEPs declare to the ISO Central Secretariat (patent.statements@iso.org) that they are willing to grant licences to applicants worldwide free of charge or on reason-able and non-discriminatory terms. To obtain these statements on time, committees are expected to inform participants of the Patent Policy at an early stage of the standards devel-opment process. For more informa-tion and forms, visit www.iso.org/patents.

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Be clear about data protection

All those participating in ISO stand-ardization activities have rights and obligations regarding data protection. These are reflected in the Data Pro-tection Policy for ISO members. All participants in the ISO system must also agree to limit their use of the per-sonal data they access to ISO stand-ardization and related activities only. Similarly, by participating in the ISO system, you agree that your personal data may be used internationally for standardization and related activities.This applies to data stored on ISO IT tools, as well as any personal data collected in the course of standardi-zation work (e.g. attendance lists, minutes). These obligations are sum-marized in a Declaration. All those involved in ISO standardization are deemed to agree with the Declaration by virtue of their involvement in ISO.Any questions regarding the Policy or the Declaration can be directed to the ISO Data Protection Officer : DataProtectionOfficer@iso.org.

How to communicate on committee work

Participants in the ISO standards development process may be asked (e.g. by the media), or may wish on

their own initiative (e.g. through social media), to share information with external parties about various aspects of committee work. ISO has developed an ISO policy on com-munication of committee work for such external communications.

Coordinate on media communications

Interest by the press or other media in ISO work is welcomed and the ISO Central Secretariat (ISO/CS) and ISO member bodies have public rela-tions services able to provide infor-mation to the press. Should you be approached to provide information about an ISO project or meeting, please coordinate with the member body, committee Secretary and the ISO Central Secretariat. ISO/CS has developed social media guidelines to guide you if you want to talk about your ISO work on social media or cre-ate an account for your committee. Media interest in any ISO meetings should also be coordinated and approved by the ISO member host-ing the meeting to avoid the confu-sion that could arise from diverging messages. See Annex SF of the Consolidated ISO Supplement to the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 for further details.

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Stay informedThings evolve everywhere. The same is true at ISO. Rules change, IT tools are improved and the technical programme is in constant flux. To be effective, you need to know about the developments that impact your work at ISO.There are a few sources that can help you stay informed. Read the TMB Communiqué published after the Technical Manage-ment Board meetings (February, June and September) to find out about the TMB decisions that directly affect committees and their work. Also register on ISO Connect to get news and high-level information about ISO initiatives. Sign up to watch the pages that interest you and that are relevant to your work.

PART 3Tools and resources

There are many tools and resources

at your disposal

A number of tools and resources are available to help you do your ISO job.

This Part provides links to access many of these tools.

Remember that your national standards body,

committee Chairs and Secretaries, as well as ISO

Central Secretariat Technical Programme Managers

are there to help you. Their names and contact information are available

on the “ About ” section of each committee page

on iso.org.

Resource area for standards developersIso.org has a resource area specifi-cally to support the work of individu-als involved in standards development. There you will find the latest informa-tion about IT tools, forms, directives, templates, toolkits, etc. www.iso.org/iso/home/standards_development/resources-for-technical-work.htm.

Full list of links used in this document

The following are the full links refer-enced in this document in the order in which they are mentioned :

ISO’s public Website :www.iso.orgISO Connect :https://connect.iso.orgList of committees on iso.org : www.iso.org/iso/home/standards_development/list_of_iso_technical_committees.htm.

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The Directives

are the core

procedures

for standards

development

work in both

ISO and the IEC.

ISO/IEC Directives (including Parts 1 & 2, the Consolidated ISO Supplement and the JTC 1 Supplement) www.iso.org/directives-and-policies.html

Description of the different ISO deliverables www.iso.org/deliverables-all.html

List of ISO members www.iso.org/members.html

World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) www.wto.org/english/docs_e/ legal_e/17-tbt_e.htm

ISO’s global relevance policy www.iso.org/governance- of-technical-work.html

Brochure Guidance on Twinning in ISO standards development activities www.iso.org/publication/ PUB100341.html

Brochure Twinning is Winning – How to engage developing countries in standardization work www.iso.org/publication/ PUB100414.html

ISO and developing countries https://www.iso.org/capacity-building.html

ISO’s sponsorship programme to support participation in technical work https://connect.iso.org/x/JoEwAw

List of organizations in liaison with ISO www.iso.org/organizations-in-cooperation- with-iso.html

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Vienna Agreement and guidance www.iso.org/va

List and biography of ISO’s Principal Officers www.iso.org/principal-officers.htmlStrategic business plans for every technical committee www.iso.org/bp

Stages of development for ISO deliverables www.iso.org/stages-and-resources-for-standards-development.html

ISOTC platform for committee work (also referred to as eCommittees) http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink?func=ll&objId=2122&objAction=browse&viewType=1ISO Projects https://isotc.iso.org/pp/

Brochure How to write standards www.iso.org/publication/PUB100335.html

Brochure Conformity assessment for standards writers – Do’s and don’ts www.iso.org/publication/PUB100303.html

Brochure ISO Code of Conduct for the technical work www.iso.org/publication/PUB100397.html

Information about the ISO logo www.iso.org/iso/home/name_and_logo.htm

An explanation about the link between ISO deliverables and conformity assessment www.iso.org/iso/foreword

Copyright : Clearing content added to standards https://connect.iso.org/x/SYBGAQ

Data Protection Declaration www.iso.org/iso/home/standards_development/resources-for-technical-work/data-protection-declaration.htm

Data Protection Policy www.iso.org/iso/home/standards_development/resources-for-technical-work/data-protection-policy.htm

Brochure Project Management Methodology – Roles, responsibilities and capability requirements https://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/fetch/2000/2122/15507012/19587784/PMM_-_Roles%2C_responsibilities_and_capability_requirements.PDF?nodeid=19588324&vernum=-2

Brochure Project Management Methodology in the ISO environment https://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/fetch/2000/2122/15507012/19587784/Project_Management_Methodology_in_the_ISO_environment.PDF?nodeid=19588439&vernum=-2

Guidance and tools for stakeholder engagement www.iso.org/resources.html

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Brochure ISO policy on communication of committee work www.iso.org/publication/PUB100382.html

E-learning on stakeholder engagement https://connect.iso.org/x/2QalAQ

TMB Communiqué https://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink?func=ll&objId=15788626&objAction=browse&viewType=1

Brochure Guidance for ISO national standards bodies – Engaging stakeholders and building consensus www.iso.org/publication/PUB100269.html

Brochure Guidance for ISO liaison organizations – Engaging stakeholders and building consensus www.iso.org/publication/PUB100270.html

40 – My ISO job | 2019 edition

AcronymsCASCO Committee on conformity assessmentCD Committee DraftCIB Committee Internal Balloting systemCOPOLCO Committee on consumer policyCSC/FIN Council Standing Committee on FinanceCSC/NOM Council Standing Committee for Review of NominationsCSC/OVE Council Standing Committee on OversightCSC/SP Strategy and Policy CommitteeDEVCO Committee on developing country mattersDIS Draft International StandardFDIS Final Draft International StandardIEC International Electrotechnical CommissionIS International StandardISO/CS ISO Central SecretariatITU International Telecommunication UnionIWA International Workshop AgreementMSS Management systems standardsNP New Work Item ProposalNSB National standards bodyPAS Publicly Available SpecificationPC Project committeeSC SubcommitteeSR Systematic reviewTBT Agreement on Technical Barriers to TradeTC Technical committeeTMB Technical Management BoardTPM Technical Programme ManagerTR Technical ReportTS Technical SpecificationVA Vienna AgreementWD Working DraftWG Working groupWTO World Trade Organization

My ISO job | 2016 Edition – 41

iso.org© ISO, 2019

All rights reserved

ISBN 978-92-67-10993-0

International Organization for Standardization

ISO Central Secretariat Ch. de Blandonnet 8

Case Postale 401 CH – 1214 Vernier, Geneva

Switzerland

About ISO

ISO (International Organization for Stand-ardization) is an independent, non-govern-mental international organization with a membership of 164* national standards bod-ies. Through its members, it brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market-rele-vant International Standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges.ISO has published more than 22 500* Inter-national Standards and related documents covering almost every industry, from tech-nology to food safety, to agriculture and healthcare. For more information, please visit www.iso.org.

*September 2019